IAC Discharge Liberty Bid to Remove Diller

IAC/InterActiveCorp, parent company of LendingTree, reacted on Tuesday after its controlling shareholder Liberty Media Corp asked a court to remove IAC Chairman Barry Diller, saying Liberty's request was preposterous and a incomprehensible.

John Malone's Liberty Media filed a lawsuit on Monday asking for the removal of IAC Chairman Barry Diller from IAC's board, along with six of the company's other directors. The move escalated an ongoing legal battle between the two companies over a restructuring that occurred at IAC which could weaken Liberty's control over them. Liberty Media owns 23 percent of IAC common stock and all of its outstanding Class-B common stock.

In a statement, the IAC called Liberty's moves preposterous and said that it would not be daunted by what it called a desperate sideshow designed to exert pressure on the board and management of IAC as they attempt to responsibly act in the best interest of their stockholders.

IAC and Mr. Diller are highly confident that they will prevail on the merits of the ongoing litigation, and regret the fact that IAC's employees and stockholders have been exposed to such reckless and frivolous actions, the company said.

The conflict threatens to ruin the relationship between the Malone and Diller which dates back to the mid-1990s, when Diller headed the QVC shopping network. QVC was partly owned by Malone's Tele-Communications Inc., which was then the largest U.S. cable operator. Diller left QVC, but was later given the right to vote Malone's 23 percent stake in Silver King Communications, a group of UHF stations.

New York City-based IAC/InterActiveCorp operates numerous businesses, including City Search, Gifts.com Ask.com, LendingTree and Ticketmaster.